Do the Tea Party folks THINK? I have my doubts.

These Tea Party-types leave me scratching my head.  Can they really be as simple minded and gullible as they seem?  They're educated idiots.  Case in point:  

They say they want less government.  They say they don't want the government bailing out failing businesses.  Government bailouts = deficit spending.  Deficit spending = BAD.  They say, "Let 'em go broke!  Survival of the fittest." Fair enough.

So federal financial regulators finally got the Volcker Rule passed.  This rule prohibits banks from taking depositors money and investing it (gambling with it) in certain high risk ventures.  They've been doing this for years, much to their advantage.  Usually.  If all goes well, the bank's shareholders (NOT the depositors) make HUGE profits, and the bankers individually get HUGE bonuses.

But if things go badly, such as what happened back in 2008, they simply run to Congress asking for a few hundred billion (with a B) dollars or they say they'll close their doors and take the economy down with them.  

If things go well, THEY win.  If thing DON'T go well, THEY don't lose, the TAXPAYERS do.  Sweet deal, huh?

The Volcker rule is good.  It reduces the likelihood the banks will ever need a taxpayer bailout.  The bankers, of course, don't like it because in gets into THEIR pockets.  They were quite happy with things the way they were.

Give a guy a suit and a haircut and some little tiny glasses....

Enter The Honorable Gentleman *snicker* and Tea Party darling, Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX).  He's the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, the folks that oversee the banks.  He will soon be proposing a new bill that will open up a HUGE loophole in the Volcker Rule, essentially allowing the banks to go back to doing business much like they used to.

Let's review: 

The Tea Party does NOT want to bail out failing businesses, including (presumably) banks.

The Volcker Rule makes banks act more prudently.

The Tea Party LOVES Jeb Hensarling.

Jeb Hensarling wants to open loopholes in the Volcker Rule that will allow banks to gamble again, increasing the odds banks will some day need another taxpayer bailout.

Does this make any sense?

I wonder how much the banks "donated" to Mr. Hensarling?  Wonder how many of his friends and relatives and supporters have received "sweetheart" deals, or maybe employment, from the banks?  (There are lots of ways to reward friends.)

How many times do I have to write about this?  Vote the bums out.  Or send really mean emails, or riot, your choice.  ;)  

S

Hey buddy, can you spare a few bucks? Checks accepted, cash preferred.

So why is Rep. Andy Barr (R, KY) all smiles?  Because *cha ching* he was one of the lucky congressional Freshmen who was appointed to serve *cha ching* on the House Financial Services Committee *cha ching*.  Screw the lottery.  This is where the REAL gold mine is!

This is the committee, along with the Senate Banking Committee on the other side of the Capital, that oversees all of the banks, insurance companies, etc.  And these are the committee members who both party's look to to bring in the Big Buck donations.  And right now they're delivering like FedEx....$9.4M just this year so far.

This is such a desirable committee to serve on that it has been increased over the years from 44 to 61 members, which required a whole new tier of seats to be installed in their meeting room.

So how do they raise so much money, you ask?  They're "good listeners".  In exchange for patiently listening to the bankers tell them how badly they want certain new rules written, or NOT to be written, the banks shower them with campaign contributions.  

Example:  Rep. Barr heard them say how much they wanted to keep a certain federal tax break that saved them $500M a year, so he introduced a bill that would put it out of reach of reformers.  

And when the do-gooder's put into the Dodd-Frank Banking Reform Bill a requirement that banks do more thorough checks on applicants they made mortgage loans to to make sure they could make the payments, they "casually mentioned" how much it would cramp their style (read: hurt their profits), and Mr. Barr introduced legislation that kept that pesky 'ol rule from being enforced.  

Yep, not much gets by the Honorable Representative Andy Barr (R, KY).  He listens really well!

And if you think I'm just picking on Republicans and that Democrats are above all this, I have some beautiful oceanfront property in Kansas I'd like to sell you. 

After the recent election Democratic Party leaders gave a PowerPoint presentation to their newly elected members urging them "to spend as much as four hours a day making fund-raising calls while in Washington, and an additional hour of 'strategic outreach' holding breakfasts or 'meet and greets' with possible financial supporters.  That adds up to more time than these first-term lawmakers were advised to spend on Congressional business."  (NYT)

The sad thing is, nothing I've mentioned here gets even a raised eyebrow in Washington.  This is just business as usual.

It seems the financial interests are very well represented in Washington.  My question is, who is looking out for ME?  Everyone agrees Washington is a nasty cesspool and that everyone there is a crook....except for their representative, "and he's a really good guy!"  

And the mugging continues.

S